Playing a small, well-made game is reminiscent of a neatly wrapped parcel or a terrarium in a bottle. I feel like a glittering world is packed in a small box. Playing such a piece is the happiest thing for me, and I think it's the happiest thing for you. "TOEM" to be reviewed this time is one of the games that makes such a happy experience.
"TOEM" is an adventure game developed / sold by Something We Made, a Swedish-based studio. You will be sent off by Grandma and head to the mountainous area with your camera to see the phenomenon of light "Toem".
There are many people in need of help in the cities and forests along the way. You use your old camera to solve their requests and use the bus tickets you get from your contributions to the community to transfer buses and aim for the summit of "Toem".
If you are new to the game, you will be amazed at the style of the world. A top-down 3D map like a diorama of a small paper craft is a big attraction of this work. Clean lines, rows of trees and buildings, 2D characters like the old Sprite FPS, and consistently grayscale colors. It's a cute world that looks like a 3D version of the world of comic strips.
I was a little worried that the whole game might be boring because it was grayscale, but it was a complete melancholy, and I felt it was more gorgeous than other games. In many situations, it is great to be able to rotate the entire map horizontally. It's a lot of fun to see the world from various perspectives by moving the map around with a mouse drag. This visual style works in every way, and it's a match that I can't think of anything else.
Grandma's camera is at the core of all gameplay and is the most unique part of the game. At almost every moment of play, you can look into your old camera and take any picture you like. You can use this camera to solve people's requests, collect community contribution stamps and get bus tickets to visit the next area.
The main request is "I want to see that, can you take a picture?", But some requests have a slight twist. For example, hide-and-seek, guiding a ship in a storm, or having a date with a ghost (very cute). There are many things that are not strange, just take a picture and show it, not only go there and take a picture and finish it, but there are also many things that require a lot of effort and a little thought, so casual However, there is nothing unsatisfactory.
When you resolve your request, it will be stamped with a sign of contribution to the community. If you save a certain number of these for each area, it will be a bus ticket to the next area. The number of stamps required for each area is about half of the total request, and if you search carefully and listen to people's stories, you can gather without problems. Some of the requests were confusing (I searched for online guides several times), but I can afford to skip some of those difficult or unknown ones.
Also, the camera itself is a lot of fun. What is interesting is that the moment you look into the viewfinder, the player's point of view is projected from the top-down to the first-person point of view, that is, the scenery that the player character is looking at. This surprised me when I first used the camera.
There are no elements such as filters and lens replacement like the camera-featured "Umurangi Generation" and other recent blockbuster games with photo modes, but this camera can use a tripod and a funny crush (selfie). You can also take a picture). There are many subjects that make you want to point the camera involuntarily, regardless of whether the request is related or not. Little birds skiing, fluffy dogs, turtles and pizzas near manholes (Cowabunga!).
It's a lot of fun to point the camera at the creatures and inanimate objects in the small gray garden, press the shutter without thinking about the difficulties, and look back in the album.
The art and gameplay are cute and well done, but what's even better is the surprisingly attentive user-friendliness. Frequently used functions can be accessed immediately by dragging the mouse at any point on the screen. The community card that manages requests allows you to quickly see what requests are from whom and how many. The zoom of the camera operation is smooth. You can also rotate the map without stress.
Overall it's snappy, smooth, and feels good to the touch. The response from the game side to the player's operation is fun. Without patronage, it was the most comfortable and comfortable game I've played in recent years. This comfort is a major driver of gameplay.
The Switch version and PC are distributed for this work for Japan, and I played with the keyboard & mouse of the PC, but this work is designed so that you can feel the most comfortable with mouse operation. It looks like it is. Grayscale maps also look better on larger screens. However, I don't think that playing on Switch will dampen the humor, which will be a fun play that matches the small atmosphere of this work.
The sound design is also outstanding. If it's a sound effect, it's the sound when you click the destination. The squeaky sound of walking in sneakers. Click sound when operating the UI system. In particular, the sound of playing a ruler when canceling the album save after shooting is very adorable, and it can be said that it is the most favorable "cancel" sound effect in my life.
The environmental sound is also surprisingly clear and hi-fi, which cannot be predicted from the cartoon-like visuals. Maybe this is using raw sound? The sound of flowing water and the barking of insects are really comfortable.
The soundtrack from the portable cassette player "Hiking Lady" (a cute parody of the Walkman) is also nice. It's more of a BGM-focused music than a scene or sentiment, but it's a match for the laid-back gameplay that adds musical color to the gray world. You'll probably want to sit on the bench during the game, close your eyes, and immerse yourself in the blend of this soundtrack with the environmental sounds. Like I did.
There's nothing in this game that really spoils the gameplay's humor, but the characters and conversational texts look a little pale compared to the overall goodness. The character designs are all cute, and the requests are unique and fun, but they are all one-time, disposable encounters. At the very least, you won't remember that word from that character after you play it.
That said, it's not a big deal, as the purpose of your journey (in the game) is just to the top of the mountain, helping people with the camera is just a means, and light fun outweighs lack of depth. Probably. However, I feel that it is clearly weaker than a game with a similar concept, such as "A Short Hike", which gives a little impression with a small amount of text.
However, despite its lightness, the ending of the game was truly satisfying. In the end, it was a small trip, "Go see it for a moment," and although there was almost no narrative excitement, it was definitely satisfying. After the climax, the end roll that I looked at the photos I took and looked back on the short journey was unintentionally Jean.
"TOEM" is not a work with many elements. It's a little day trip, 2 hours if you solve it quickly, 3 hours if you do it at your own pace, and 4 hours if you try to enjoy every corner. The story and gameplay are casual, with no heavy or intense narrative swells, such as dealing with mental health or real-life difficulties. However, a small and complete world like a paper terrarium in a bottle makes me want to remember, "By the way, I played such a cute game" even after a while.
I think it's a game that is open to all human beings, regardless of age or gender, and the fact that many people will be able to enjoy this journey.